ROSEBURG, Oregon – As the final leaves fall from the trees and the air becomes cool and crisp, our community welcomes the holiday season. Unfortunately for many, the holiday season also presents its own set of challenges. At Umpqua Community College (UCC), a focus on helping communities in need thrives and the Associated Students of Umpqua Community College (ASUCC) has once again carried on this tradition of serving students in need.

We’re here to help UCC students celebrate Thanksgiving, Katherine Hicks, ASUCC Activities Officer, said between students picking up their meals in the warm Student Center Bistro. One hundred boxes, mounds of bread rolls, and other food items lined the walls and dotted the tables. All with the goal to provide 100 UCC student families with full, traditional Thanksgiving meal this season.

We’ve been providing these baskets of Thanksgiving food for students for at least seven years, Marjan Coester, the Director of Student Engagement, said.

The project started taking shape in early November as representatives of ASUCC set up a donation table in front Sherm’s Thunderbird Market.

We went to Sherm’s and got donations from shoppers, Hicks said. The community donated a lot of what you see here today. ASUCC also shopped and got a lot of these things as well with the money that was donated.

By the three-hour mark, six shopping carts had been filled with donations.

We’re very appreciative for the donations we’ve received for the community as well as the UCC staff and faculty, Hicks said. We just want the community to know how much we appreciate them and students. Happy holidays!

About Umpqua Community College

Nestled in the beautiful North Umpqua River Valley, Umpqua Community College is the regional center for higher education in Douglas County, Oregon. UCC provides high quality college degree programs, workforce development, and community learning opportunities.